Broken Mirrors
by SecretFlyingNinja
Summary: She screamed in pain as the movie played in her head. It was her, but different, like an animal killing Max. She clutched her head as three words rang out in the director's voice. "Terminate Maximum Ride"
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Meeting Mirror

My breath was shallow and ragged, and my heartbeat was 10 times as fast as my feet. _Must… get away… from the… white coats! _That was the only thought running through my head as I sprinted through the dark forest. I ran and ran dodging tree branches and jumping over shrubs. I winced in pain as a branch brushed my shredded side, but I had to keep running. I must not go back to the School.

I looked back, still running, to see, to my relief that no one was following me. I started to slow down until I came to a complete stop, using my one free hand to lean against a tree. I lifted the hand clutching my side and stared in horror at how much blood was on it. Suddenly I was feeling light headed._ Too… much… blood loss! _I slid down onto my knees and closed my eyes in pain. I wasn't supposed to feel pain, I wish.

_Hisssssss! _Oh no, I stood up immediately and snapped my head around. There they were, the half man half lizards armed with stun guns. They had the body of a human but the scaly head of a lizard. My breath hitched and I turned and started to run. I was very fast, no questioning on that but not fast enough before the Fizzers, (that's what I call them do to the hissing speech patterns and when they fall in the water guess what they do? Yup, they _fizz. _Plus, it's hard to think of names when they are trying to kill you.) Lifted their guns and fired.

Everything went in slow motion as I turned and ran but not fast enough as the bullet struck my back. A horribly painful shock zapped me, the electrical currents running through my blood. My eyes widened and I was momentarily paralyzed. I tried to move but it was like I was bound with duck tape. The fizzers ran up and grabbed me. In one last futile attempt to escape I used all my strength I turned my head and bit down on the Fizzer's hand – hard.

"ARRRG_!"_ The fizzer roared and dropped me, holding his hand. His eyes became slits with rage. Picking me up by my neck he started to strangle me.

"Ssssstop, massssster wantssss her alive!" I started to see spots as another Fizzer came up and smacked the other in the head. Just as I was about to black out the Fizzer choking me loosened his grip on my neck, I gasped for air as the fizzer threw me over his shoulder angrily. He stomped away with me in the direction I had come. I tried to move but I was still paralyzed.

"Load her in the helicopter. Massssster will be sssssssso pleassssssed with our work." The lead Fizzer said motioning where to put me. They tossed me into the helicopter and I landed with a hard _thump_ on my shredded side. I screamed inwardly for if I screamed out loud that would show weakness and if I was weak once I got back to the school I would be… retired. I shivered at the thought. I had to get out of here! I quickly took in my surroundings. I was in a helicopter with 4 fizzers and a human pilot. The helicopter had 1 side made of glass, wait why the heck would they have a helicopter that's glass? Whatever it's a way out isn't it?

The helicopter took off with a rumble and was rising fast. Oh no! Well better to die free then live captive right? I quickly found that a fizzer was holding onto me, how did I not notice that? Oh yeah, he was holding onto my now numb arm. I waited till the paralyzation (A/N is that a real word?) wore off then executed my plan. _1, 2, 3, NOW! _ I gathered up some saliva in my mouth and spit on the hand of the fizzer. The fizzer shrieked and there was a fizz as my saliva burning a hole in his hand. He let me go and I quickly stood up delivering a roundhouse kick to the fizzer making him knock into the others. I turned around, took a running start, braced myself and broke through the glass and flailed around as I fell. I gave an unlikely whimper as I hit the ground with a sickening crack. I vaguely remember seeing some people fly down and rush toward me. I gave a weak smile, my eyes fluttered close, and everything faded to black.

I was sitting on my bed at the house in Colorado, crying. It wasn't just me, Nudge and Gazzy were curled up asleep at the foot of my bed, they had cried themselves to sleep, and Iggy was making diner for when the kids woke up. The only one not in the room was Dylan. That was because, during my fit of rage at god for taking Angel, Dylan was trying to comfort me and I well slapped him and told him to get lost. At least he listened to me and left, he can be even more stubborn then Fang sometimes.

_Fang_. His name was like a punch in the gut, even after everything and Angels death, he still left. He left with his new "flock" and left his FAMILY to wallow in sadness and guilt. Well it wasn't the first time. I was kind of getting used to him leaving. At least everything is calming down for once.

_Stay alert Max, something very powerful and very important is coming your way soon._

**Hello Voice, you know you're starting to sound like a movie trailer. **

_Very funny Max, but really you do need to focus._

**Go away Voice; I'm trying to wallow here.**

_Heed my warning Max; it's not like anything you've ever seen before._

**Of course it's not.**

_Max listen you need to-_

**GOOD-BYE VOICE.**

The Voice silenced and I was finally left with some peace and quiet. Getting up, being careful not to disturb Nudge and Gazzy I walked to the window. The CSM had set us up with a home in the Colorado Mountains. There are lots of trees and a stream running along the side of our house. (A/N I'm just guessing how their house looks) What did the Voice mean? I was trying to figure that out when my raptor vision say something falling from the sky. It was… A GIRL? She landed hard on the ground and was immediately still. Oh no. I opened my window and jumped, snapping open my wings. Gazzy and Nudge had awoken and were right behind me. I landed silently and rushed over.

I rushed over to her, she was barely conscious. As soon as she saw me a look of relief washed over her. She gave a faint smile then her head leaned back and her eyes fluttered close.

"Gazzy go get Iggy, NOW!" Gazzy nodded and ran inside. Iggy was sort of like our doctor now that my mom was… gone. He had been watching a lot of medical shows lately.

Carefully I turned her over and gasped at what I saw her side was completely shredded and the amount of blood she had lost was astounding. She also had a bloody nose, and her leg was bent at an odd angle. I was about to flip her over when Iggy came running out with a first aid kit. Iggy took fingers and grabbed her wrist.

"She still has a pulse, but its dropping quickly." Iggy announced before wrapping bandages and gauze around her side.

"I'll call 911." I said quickly I whipped out my cell phone and was about to dial when Iggy yelled no. I turned to look at him. Did he want her to die? He had flipped her over and using a pocket knife had cut a square in the back of her shirt. I dropped my phone when I saw what he meant. There, covered in dirt was a pair of wings.

_I told you so._

I didn't even bother answering the Voice. I was too shocked to even think. They were wings, wings! There they were, covered in grime a set of black wings that had a blue shine to them, lay lifeless. I couldn't believe it, another bird-kid! I didn't know what to do so I tentatively reached out my finger and touched one of her wings. My eyes widened as a purple circle around where my finger was emerged and grew larger and larger. But what scared me was that everywhere the ring touched the wounds healed and the dirt disappeared. I'm pretty sure I saw her grow back 5 primary feathers in a few seconds. In a few minutes her wings were fully healed and looked as though they were just washed. I jumped back, removing my finger, as the wings shook but didn't extend.

"Whoa, Max how did you do that?" Gazzy shouted confused. I shrugged and said,

"Maybe a new power?" I stared shocked at her healed wings. I looked at my hand, it looked normal. Wait, if I could heal her wings… a thought hit me and I hesitantly set my entire hand on the top of her back. I smiled as the purple ring showed again and started healing her body. I watched in awe as her leg snapped back into place and her blood soaked back into her. Her side wound closed, scabbed, and disappeared entirely. Her hair looked like it was freshly out of the salon. (A/N Her hair was ravens-wing and had large ringlets down to right above her wings.)

I pulled back my hand and told Iggy to check her pulse. He nodded and leaned forward, but just as his finger was about to touch her throat, her eyes snapped open everyone jumped back but Iggy. She lifted her hand, and touched her side. I heard her take a sharp intake of breath as she turned her head as if she didn't believe she was alive. We all jumped as in an instant she had jumped up, and landed on Iggy holding him down by his throat. With my razor vision I could see the burning fury in her deep blue eyes. A deep growl sounded from her throat and for words came out of her mouth.

"How am I alive?" She said I slowly seeming as though see was making sure she could still talk. Her voice was smooth and powerful drawing you in. Iggy was shaking and opened his mouth but no words came out. The girl seemed to be annoyed by this because she squinted and spat out,

"What blind man, are you mute too?" That really struck a nerve.

"No! And if you hurt me Max is going to kill you!" Iggy snarled. She laughed.

"I cannot be killed." She said simply. I scoffed and stepped from my hiding place.

"Oh really? Because if I hadn't healed you, you would be dead." Her head whipped around and her navy eyes bore into me. She let go of Iggy and stood up.

"You're the one who healed me?" She sort of tilted her head and a look came into her eyes that I couldn't put my finger on. I nodded slightly and a small grin crept onto her face. Then she said something that surprised me.

"Thanks."

"Whatever, how did you get here and who are you." I said firmly. She looked startled then recovered her cool and answered,

"Well, I was in a school for a long time and the white coats were like "She must be perfect if she is to defeat her. She must be faster, stronger, and smarter. I never figured out who she was but then they started to inject some painful stuff into me," She winced at the thought then continued, "it hurt, it burned! It tore at your insides like a cat with a scratching post. It was like acid slowly crawling up your spine."

Her description was disturbing and I could see genuine fear and terror in her eyes. I had no idea why she all the sudden trusted us with this information, maybe because she just needed to share the pain but it was all really freaky. But it was nothing to what she said next. She trembled as she whispered,

"Then they created them," She let out a groan as if she was still in pain. I was paying full attention now and I whispered.

"Who did they create?"

"… The Hounds."

"They shocked you when you did something you couldn't do. They laughed at you for fearing your life. They looked inside of you and tortured you using your powers against you. And they invaded your dreams, every night the rhythm of the barking and chewing, the sound of flesh tearing and bones cracking." She started pacing and pawing her hair.

"Stop!" Nudge shouted, I could see the fear of the girl reflected I her eyes. "Just stop!"

I looked at the girl with a critical eye; she was, in one word, kind of weird. She adorned a one shoulder white shirt and a pair of skinny jeans but it was almost completely covered by the navy woolen cloak that was wrapped around her. She wore no shoes and had a thin silver chain with a large blue pendent around her neck. She looked trustworthy enough but she had to answer one question first,

"Who are you?"

Her expression changed and she stood up straighter. She almost became a completely different person. And all the fear was gone as she lifted her head and stated before bowing,

"I am Mirror Dodge, it is a pleasure to meet you, Maximum Ride." She smirked as my jaw dropped. _How does she know my name?_

"You are the Maximum Ride, right? The initial take down target?" She said slowly recalling something she had heard before. "You were talked about quite a lot at the school."

I growled and got in a fighting position. Who was Mirror? Did she work for the white coats? I didn't trust her anymore. I growled again. When this didn't faze her I snapped out my wings. Her eyes widened a little but not from fear. She tilted her head and walked up to me and muttered,

"Peregrine falcon, built for speed. Maximum speed about 300 miles an hour." She reached out to touch my wings. There was a flash and every synapse in my brain fired. When I opened my eyes everything was foggy. I realized she was about to touch my wing but I delivered a side kick before she could.

Everything was in slow motion as she did a back flip and avoided the attack, skidded to a halt now also in a fighting stance. Her head which was down snapped up and she emitted a fierce growl before she snapped out her wings. They were amazing! Perfectly glossed ravens wing feathers shown in the sun. They were lean and muscular, showing plenty of flying practice.

I looked her back in the eye but they were no longer human looking they were pure animal. She barred her, what now were fangs and screed like an eagle. Her finger nails elongated to talons and she looked at me and spoke 3 words in a robotic voice.

"Terminate Maximum Ride."

"Max! Quit it!" Gazzy's voice rang clearly through the fog and it immediately dissipated. I shook my head and opened my closed eyes. My eyes widened in horror as I saw the scene in front of me.

Mirror was on her butt clutching her hand to her chest. It was obviously bloodied and maybe had a couple broken fingers. A tear ran down her cheek leaving a wet streak down her cheek. What happened? I looked at my hands; they were stained with her blood. I looked at her a she whimpered and turned away.

Her wings were tightly tucked in and she had no talons, and her eyes were completely normal. Everything was groggy and I turned to Gazzy.

"What did I do?" I mumbled. Gazzy tore his eyes away from Mirror and stuttered.

"You beat her up! She touched your wing and you went crazy! You crushed every bone in her hand then kicked her back! Why would you do that?" I tried to say I didn't do that but everyone rushed over to Mirror. But she only backed away and shouted,

"You're crazy! No wonder the school wants to kill you! You're a monster!" and with that she ran into the woods, tears streaming down her face.

_What have I done?_ I thought as the flock turned to stare at me.

Mirror cursed as Mirror 2 ran into the forest crying. _How dare she portray me so weak!_ Mirror though angrily. If Max hadn't attacked her as she transed (A/N you will learn about transing later) at the last minute she might have been able to fight the Directors power. But why had Max attacked her projection? Could she…? No. But it was a possibility.

She ripped of her neck less and clicked the sapphire, immediately Mirror 2 was sucked back into her. She winced as Mirror 2's hand injury was put on her own hand. She inspected the damage. Max had broken every bone in her hand in one move, or did she just undo the healing that fixed it in the first place? She had dealt with enough pain for today. But was she able to heal herself after she escaped from the school? Sighing reluctantly she slowly began healing her hand.

There was a shock and the feeling of acid crawling up her spine. Not now, not ever! This shouldn't be happening. The Director can't do this can she? She shouted in pain, but fell to the ground as the image appeared. How could she forget she is still connected? She screamed in pain as the movie played in her head. It was her, but different, like an animal, killing Max. She clutched her head as 3 words rang out in the Director voice.

"**Terminate Maximum Ride."**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Max Meets the Hounds

"So what'd I miss?" Dylan asked cheerily, landing next to me. He shook out his chocolate wings then folded them against his back. As he looked around his smile faded as his super sharp eyes caught sight of the blood on my hands. Mistaking it for mine, he literally flew over and grabbed my hand. His eyes narrowed and he hissed,

"Who did this?"

"I did." I muttered, pulling my hand out of his grass and wiping it on the grass, leaving it a deep red.

"Huh?" Dylan asked, looking quizzically at me.

"It's nothing." I mumbled then turned to the flock. They were right where they had been a couple minutes ago, staring at me, waiting for me to do something. I sighed and turned back to Dylan.

"Dylan, use your super sight thingy to find a girl. She has black hair and is wearing a blue cloak and has black wings."

"Wait there's _another_ bird kid?" Dylan asked, gaping. "And I thought I was the last one. You know, besides your clone"

I was starting to get impatient, not to mention Dylan hit a nerve there. I rubbed my temples and hissed,

"Just tell me where she is." Dylan backed off, put his hands up in surrender, and looked around. After a few seconds Dylan pointed to the west side of the clearing and said,

"She's about 10 miles that way." I nodded and took off my jacket, letting my wings stretch out through the slits in my t-shirts. I stretched out my wings and pumped them hard, blowing dirt in Dylan's face. Hey, he needed to know not to tick me off!

"Be back soon don't blow the house up!" I yelled from the air, before shooting up into the air and to the west. There was a muffled "Okay!" before I went into hyper speed. In around a minute I was above the spot where Dylan said Mirror was. I scanned the ground, circling lower and lower, but there was still no Mirror. Even with my sharp eyes I couldn't see any signs of a person. Giving up I angled down and landed silently in the foliage. I looked around, still no signs of Mirror. I cupped my hands to my mouth and yelled her name. It was kind of stupid because if she was like us she would be able to hear me without me yelling her name.

Accepting defeat, I opened my wings and took off, heading back home. In the air it was peaceful, the summer breeze drumming your face lightly, your hands skimming through low floating clouds. But that serenity didn't last long. It never does.

Suddenly, there was the beating of helicopter blades and the barking of dogs. I didn't have time to look up before there was a whoosh and a weight knocked the breath out of me. My instinct kicking in I delivered an elbow to the stomach of my attacker, twisted their arm (earning a satisfying crack), and grabbed their shoulder, throwing them on the ground.

I cringed as I saw, once again, a broken and bloodied Mirror. Her eyes smoldered in fury as she roared,

"What the heck is your problem?" She got up, holding her arm which was snapped with a bone sticking out.

"Look, I'm sorry, but it's your fault for attacking me." I said indignantly, reaching out my hand. Mirror gave a disgusted look and backed away. I gave and annoyed look and pulled back. All I was going to do was see it my healing power would work again. Mirror gave a snort of laughter and rolled her eyes, stating,

"You thought you could heal? No, that was me. And I didn't attack you." Pathetically, my heart deflated a little. I was hoping that my- I mean Mirrors power would work. It would be helpful if the flock couldn't die in battles. Then another thought occurred to me. How did she know what I was thinking?

"Hey how did you know what I was-" but before I could finish my voice was drowned out by cries of "There she is!" and vicious barking.

"Yo precious! Miss us?" A shrill voice taunted menacingly. "Oh, I smell blood, even better." I looked at Mirror.

Her nay eyes were full of fear, and it seemed as though she was frozen in place. Taking this as they were bad, I shoved Mirror and I into a shrub, concealing us. Once in the safety of the shadows Mirror seemed to gather herself. Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes and wiggled the fingers of her broken arm. There was a faint purple glow, creating a bracelet like circle, it traveled up her arm and healing it. When she was done she feverishly reached for the snap on her cloak, unbuttoning it and taking it off. She turned to me and motioned for me to put it on. I raised an eyebrow, pushing the cloak back at her.

She gave an exasperated sigh, threw it at me, made a motion to put it on and flip up the hood. I was about to object when there was more barking and stamping feet. Mirror mouth 'wait here' and shot out of the bushes and deeper into the forest.

There was a howl and the barking became closer and closer. Looking at the cloak I shrugged and swung it on, flipping up the hood. As I did a tingling sensation went up my body and disappeared. I fell to my stomach as the creatures crashed through the trees.

They were human… almost. With short cropped hair and pointy ears sticking out of the fuzz. They wore no shirts, only board shorts with a hole which a fluffy tail stuck out of. Their hands were rough and they had no nails, only sharp claws. They had pointed and rotting teeth, with drool dripping from their mouths. They didn't have a nose; they had a stubby snout, with a noise that looked like it had been hit with a frying pan. But their biggest feature was their eyes. Wild and crazed they each were different colors. They didn't have pupils, and the eyes could move two different places at once like a chameleon. To sum it up, they were butt ugly.

The group had 5 of the creatures in it. 4 boys and 1 girl… I think… They were so deformed that I can't really tell. The only reason was the girl voice that taunted Mirror and because ones hair was longer and it was wearing a shirt. The "girl" raised her head and sniffed the air, her eyes narrowed and her head swiveled to where I was laying. I stiffened up, my shoulders hunched, but the girl just looked another way, sniffed, and growled.

"Spread out! Girly has flown around and lost her scent trail." Just as they were about to split a clear voice from the sky sang out'

"_But uh, oh now I got you pissed off, walked away before you could run off. No I am not about to make this easier on you…" _**(A/N Disclaimer: I do not own this song. It's Catch Me if You Can by Burnham)**

"That way!" One of the males called and took off.

"Wait!" The female called and held up a hand. My breath caught as her ears twitched, swiveling toward my hiding place. Then the girl changed. Not literally of course, just her eyes closed and a look of peacefulness overcame her. She seemed to be floating as her legs slid over the soft pine needle layered ground. Ever-slowly she made her way toward my position, and I wondered, with those ears, could she hear my pounding heart?

She turned the corner and walked around the edge of the bush exposing me completely. I sucked in a deep breath as she kept her eyes closed her hand slowly reaching toward me. I tried to stop my shaking afraid that I would accidentally hit her hand, which was now centimeters away from my face, but it was useless. One of the guys moved and I shifted slightly and the tip of her claw touched my nose.

Immediately a painful feeling came over me. It felt, it felt like acid creeping up my spine. My mind became foggy but clearer at the same time, horrible images flashing before my eyes, Angel lying in pieces in Paris, the flock being tortured by the scientist, me falling wingless off a cliff and Fang sitting and watching. Before I could help it a small moan of pain escaped my lips and the girls eyes flew open.

"Nooooo!" Mirror bellowed, crashing through the tree tops and delivering a literal flying side kick to the girl's side. The girl was stunned but got up and shouted orders. Immediately I jumped up, the hood of the cloak falling from my head. The dog things saw me and roared in triumph and rushed me, but I was ready. Punches flew, kicks connected and bones cracked and in a flurry the battle was over. 5 dog bodies lay motionless on the ground but the girl was gone.

I looked to my side where Mirror was whipping blood from her lip but when I looked at her it happened again.

. Her head which was down snapped up and she emitted a fierce growl before she snapped out her wings. They were amazing! Perfectly glossed ravens wing feathers shown in the sun. They were lean and muscular, showing plenty of flying practice.

I looked her back in the eye but they were no longer human looking they were pure animal. She barred her, what now were fangs and screed like an eagle. Her finger nails elongated to talons and she looked at me and spoke 3 words in a robotic voice.

"Terminate Maximum Ride."

As I shook my head Mirror had put her cloak on, which had fallen of me in the fight, and gave me a curt nod. She stretched her wings and lifted off, soaring out of sight.

And don't ask me how I know, because not even I know that, but I knew her intentions were clear. But they didn't make sense, she had saved me. But then those images flashed in my mind once again. I sat on the ground, and as if something possessed me, my shaky finger wrote 3 words in the dirt.

Terminate Maximum Ride

And she would do just that.


End file.
